How will Kenki Fukuoka bounce back from nightmare in the USA?

After a nightmare match at the StubHub Center, will the exciting young wing Kenki Fukuoka be able to recover and bounce back and prove it was a one off in the big game against Italy.

Whilst being perhaps being one of the most exciting talents in the Japan team, notably possessing absolutely electric pace on the wing which he used to good effect in a good performance against Scotland last year, the game last weekend against the USA must surely go down as probably the worst in his life.

It started off okay when he used his pace to round the defence to score what should have been a try, but went steadily downhill from there as lost the ball over the line. By the end of the game, Fukuoka's missed tackle were single handedly keeping the USA in the game as it led to a Blaine Scully hat trick.

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Fukuoka's nightmare in the USA

First lost the ball over the tryline …

… then 3 missed tackles cost 3 tries

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The game was Fukuoka's first for over 6 months following an injury that had prevented him from playing in any of the games beforehand. Whilst he may have been rusty, he may also be a victim of the University system. He impressed against Scotland last November, but would have faced scant amount of serious opponents since.

If it wasn't for injuries ruling out both Yoshikazu Fujita and Kotaro Matsushima, then likely he could have been eased back into the team, which may have been better for him. But as it is the only alternatives in the squad are Toshiaki Hirose and Daichi Murata, neither of whom are considered as highly rated as Fukuoka is. Hirose may have been the safer bet to return to, but Fukuoka would be far more likely to be a game changer with his pace and the option going ahead in years to come.

The botched try isn't much of a worry, that was a mistake, a one off that will never happen again. It was the suspect the defence that was most concerning. Japan may have got away with it against lower ranked opponents, but there are very few games against top 12 opponents they will manage to win whilst conceding 4 tries.

Can Fukuoka handle the Italian
wingers like this?

For the big Italy game which will be a big litmus test for the side's capabilities at next year's the World Cup, coach Eddie Jones has shown faith and backed the 21 year old to bounce back keeping him in the starting team. If the youngster can perform and come back and recover from the horrors of last week's performance in a big game against Tier 1 opposition, then it will be a huge credit to his mental strength.